The Global Brain: New Book Provides Roadmap for Innovation (11/16/2007)

Today's corporate leaders are increasingly aware that growth and success depend on a company's ability to tap external sources of innovation. Yet many find it difficult to translate that knowledge into action. A new book co-authored by a management professor from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a management professor from Northwestern University presents multiple models that companies can customize to fit their particular circumstances.

"There's an enormous gap between awareness and execution," said Satish Nambisan, associate professor in the Lally School of Management & Technology at Rensselaer, and co-author of The Global Brain: Your Roadmap for Innovating Faster and Smarter in a Networked World. "Our book is designed to close that gap."

Published in October 2007 by Wharton School Publishing, The Global Brain is earning praise for a refreshing approach which recognizes that, when it comes to innovation, one size can't possibly fit all.

"Each company will have its own roadmap," Nambisan said. "If The Global Brain has one message, it's to find your own approach - the one that is best suited for your context, your industry, and your market - and prepare yourself by identifying and developing the capabilities necessary to execute that approach."

Nambisan is known worldwide for his research and insights in innovation management and technology strategy. His co-author, Mohanbir Sawhney, is the McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology and director of the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Sawhney is a globally recognized scholar, teacher, consultant, and speaker in strategic marketing, innovation, and e-business.

Nambisan and Sawhney use the term "global brain" to refer to sources of innovation that lie beyond a company's boundaries: the network of inventors, scientists, researchers, small firms, customers, and suppliers - both within and outside the United States - whose ideas and technologies can spur significant growth.

In the corporate arena, there is widespread recognition that traditional strategies of cost-cutting, mergers and acquisitions can no longer generate the increased revenues that shareholders and the market demand. Under pressure to find new avenues for growth, executives and managers are determined to harness the potential of new sources of innovation, outside their organizations and around the globe. In academic circles, innovators are seeking direction on how to forge the relationships that enable them to capitalize on new ideas, patents, and technologies.

According toNick Donofrio, IBM executive vice president, innovation and technology and a Rensselaer trustee, who provided the foreword for The Global Brain, external, collaborative innovation "will forever change the way work is conducted, the way new opportunity is created, and how value is extracted from our endeavors." Donofrio cites the guidelines that Nambisan and Sawhney provide to help companies identify and prepare for the most promising collaborative innovation opportunities.

The authors urge companies to move from firm-centric to network-centric innovation. This externally focused approach optimizes the contributions of the global innovation partners and offers the greatest potential for success.

Because the shift to network-centric innovation is "not an easy journey," Nambisan said, The Global Brain lays out four models that companies can use to develop their own innovation frameworks.

The models include:

• The Orchestra Model: In the most structured of the four models, leadership is centralized, with one dominant firm serving as the conductor. The other network members complement and resonate with one another.
  
  
• The Creative Bazaar Model: The dominant firm shops for innovation in a global bazaar of ideas, products, and technologies and uses its proprietary commercialization infrastructure to bring these innovations to market.
  
  
• The Jam Central Model: Individual contributors as well as companies come together to collaborate on an innovation project whose goals are emergent. The innovation space is not well-defined and, as is the case in a musical jam session, members improvise. Further, there are no dominant members, and the responsibility for leading and coordinating the activity is diffused among network participants.
  
  
• The MOD (Modification) Station Model: A community of innovators exploits and adapts existing products or services to address new market or technological opportunities. Activities occur within a predefined innovation space and are governed by the community, not by a dominant firm.

With its rigorous analyses, real-world examples, and practical roadmaps, The Global Brain is an invaluable resource for those within and outside company walls. Its messages resonate with a diverse audience, from chief executives and senior and middle managers to academic researchers, independent inventors, and third-party companies that help prepare innovations for commercialization.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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